Weobley, Herefordshire
Historical Description
Weobley, a small town, the head of a poor-law union and petty sessional division, and a parish in Herefordshire. The town stands 3½ miles N of Moorhampton station on the Hereford, Hay, and Brecon branch of the M.R., 8 SW of Leominster, and 12½ NW of Hereford. It had a castle, taken by Stephen in 1141 from the Empress Matilda, and captured by the Welsh in 1207, and now represented by a grassy mound and part of the moat. Weobley sent two members to Parliament from the time of Edward I., and was disfranchised by the Reform Act of 1832. It is a seat of petty sessions, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.) The town consists chiefly of two streets, and contains some fine old timbered houses. The church, restored in 1866, is a fine edifice, ranging from Norman to Perpendicular, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, S porch, and a square tower with a lofty stone spire, which was restored in 1895. It contains some ancient tombs and memorial windows. There are Roman Catholic and Primitive Methodist chapels. The trade is chiefly agricultural. A pleasure fair is held on 8 May. There are two banks, a recreation room and drill-hall, a police station, and a workhouse. The parish comprises 3899 acres; population of the civil parish, 804; of the ecclesiastical, 769. There is a parish council consisting of ten members. Garnstone Castle, a modern castellated edifice in an extensive deer-park, is the chief residence. The manor belonged to the Lacys, and passed to the Verdon and Devereux families and others, and is now held by the Marquis of Bath. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Hereford; net value, £231. Patron, the Bishop of Worcester.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Herefordshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Weobley St. Peter and St. Paul | |
Hundred | Stretford | |
Poor Law union | Weobley |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Weobley from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Weobley (St. Peter and St. Paul))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Herefordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Weobley are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Herefordshire newspapers online: